The best science fiction audiobooks
Updated September 2026 · Every title listened to in full
The short answer
Project Hail Mary, narrated by Ray Porter, is the best science fiction audiobook we have reviewed and one of the best audiobooks of any kind. The Martian is the easier, funnier entry point at 10h 53m, and Dune at 21h 02m is the one to attempt once you are comfortable with long, name-heavy listening.
Science fiction gains more from audio than almost any genre and also suffers more. A full cast solves the format's biggest problem — keeping a large crew of characters distinct — while dense invented vocabulary is far harder to absorb by ear than on a page you can glance back at.
These three are what we have listened to in full, ordered by how easy they are to start with.
1Best sci-fi audiobookProject Hail Mary
Andy Weir · Narrated by Ray Porter · 16h 10m · 4.8 / 5
Ray Porter's performance is the reason to choose audio here, and the book's second major character is a genuinely audio-first pleasure. 16h 10m, with a flashback-heavy opening couple of hours that settles quickly.
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2Best starting pointThe Martian
Andy Weir · Narrated by R. C. Bray · 10h 53m · 4.7 / 5
10h 53m, log-entry structure, and R. C. Bray keeping it funny throughout. The most forgiving science fiction audiobook on our shelf if you are listening while doing something else.
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3Best epicDune
Frank Herbert · Narrated by Scott Brick, Simon Vance, Ilyana Kadushin and cast · 21h 02m · 4.4 / 5
21h 02m with Scott Brick, Simon Vance, Ilyana Kadushin and a partial cast. The scale is the appeal and the invented vocabulary is the obstacle — this one needs blocks of at least 45 minutes to work properly.
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How we chose
Every title was listened to in full. We weighted how well each production handles the genre's specific audio problem: large casts, invented terminology and long stretches of technical explanation.
Where a book demands sustained attention — Dune in particular — we say so rather than recommending it as commute listening, because the format mismatch is what makes people abandon it.
This is a short list because it contains only what we have finished. It grows with each new review rather than being padded out.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best science fiction audiobook?
- Project Hail Mary, narrated by Ray Porter. The performance carries sixteen hours of problem-solving without flagging, and one of the book's central characters is realised through voice in a way the printed edition simply cannot match.
- Is Dune a good audiobook?
- It is a good production and a demanding listen. At 21h 02m with a partial cast and a great deal of invented vocabulary, it rewards long uninterrupted sessions and falls apart in ten-minute fragments. Start with The Martian or Project Hail Mary if you are new to the format.
- Are full-cast audiobooks better for sci-fi?
- Often, yes. The genre's biggest audio problem is keeping a large crew of characters distinct, and a cast solves it directly. Single-narrator productions can work superbly too — Project Hail Mary is one narrator — when the book is built around a small number of voices.